"If you want baked beans, take the first tin on the shelf"

Sunday 07 February 2021

People are being encouraged to minimise the time they spend in supermarkets and touch as few items as possible, following positive cases linked to three stores in the last week.

Two of Marks & Spencer's shops - L'Islet and St Martin's - were closed for deep cleaning on Thursday after an asymptomatic member of staff tested positive for Covid-19 during targeted testing of essential workers.

Last Sunday, the Co-op Grand Marche in St Sampson's was closed so that store could be deep cleaned, after a small number of positive cases were linked to the supermarket.  

"The deep clean is exactly what it says - it's absolutely everything," States CEO Paul Whitfield said. "It's floors, walls, it's emptying shelves, re-cleaning and wiping down products and everything is put back in place, from the top ceiling void down to the floor. It has to be done to a set standard."

Pictured: M&S supermarkets at St Martin’s and L’Islet were closed for deep cleaning on Thursday after an asymptomatic member of staff tested positive for Covid-19.

With supermarkets still seeing high footfall, the States are discouraging people from shopping unnecessarily, with P&R Vice-President Heidi Soulsby saying that people should not pop in for "just the odd donut and a packet of crisps."

Her successor as HSC President, Deputy Al Brouard, said people should know what they need before they go to the store and make that visit as swift as possible. 

"When you go to supermarkets, although we used to quite happily touch things on the shelves and look at it and read the label, this is probably a time not to," he said.

"Make your decisions before you get to the shop - if you want baked beans, take the first baked beans tin on the shelf. Don't look at it, scroll it around a few times in your hands and then put it back on the shelf. It's just about being a little bit more savvy as to how you do your shopping."

Pictured: Health & Social Care President Al Brouard encouraged people to think ahead about what they want before they go shopping. 

Public Health Director Dr Nicola Brink emphasised the importance of good hand hygiene, both before you go into the store and after. 

"You can reduce the risk of continued transmission by continued washing your hands and using your alcohol rub, so that is one of the most important factors in reducing transmission of the virus," she said.

"The chance of someone having a can of beans, taking it down and getting a significant chance of transmission from that would be very, very low. The most important thing is to have your important general hand hygiene as that will be a significant risk reduction."